News

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Overseas voters in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area who still have not received their ballots for the May 13 elections are being requested to come to the Philippine Embassy beginning Monday to personally claim their ballots and vote.

In an advisory, the Embassy said the move is intended to allow registered voters to participate in next week’s electoral exercise that will select party-list representatives in the House of Representatives and members of the Senate.

The Embassy said the move is also in response to concerns raised by members of the Filipino Community that many overseas voters in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland may not be able to vote because they still have not received the election packets mailed to them from Manila by the Commission on Elections.

The Embassy said registered voters in the Metro DC area can proceed to the Consular Section at 1617 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest on Monday to claim and cast their ballots.

Those who have already received their ballots are strongly being encouraged to mail these immediately to the Embassy to ensure that their vote will be counted. The Embassy said ballots will only be accepted until 7 a.m. of 13 May.

The Embassy had earlier advised Filipino voters whose names are not in the voters’ lists to check the new guidelines issued by the Comelec to avoid possible disenfranchisement of voters, particularly those who applied for registration or transfer last year.

The Embassy said the Committee on Overseas Voting of the Comelec issued the new guidelines last week in response to reports from foreign service posts that some names of applicants for registration or transfer are not included in the list of approved voters.

Under the new guidelines, foreign service posts or the applicants themselves are required to call the Committee on Overseas Voting at +63-2-522-2251 or +63-2-521-2952 in Manila or email comelec_coav@yahoo.com to report the non-inclusion of their names in the approved lists of voters. ###

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